Video game approach in PE has South Belt Elementary kids hopping

Alijah Banda watches as Leslie Torres, Josue Herrera and Elijah Mack throw a ball to select the answer to a math problem during a Lü Interactive Playground session at South Belt Elementary School.

Alijah Banda watches as Leslie Torres, Josue Herrera and Elijah Mack throw a ball to select the answer to a math problem during a Lü Interactive Playground session at South Belt Elementary School.

Photo: Kirk Sides / Staff Photographer

Photo: Kirk Sides / Staff Photographer

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Alijah Banda watches as Leslie Torres, Josue Herrera and Elijah Mack throw a ball to select the answer to a math problem during a Lü Interactive Playground session at South Belt Elementary School.

Alijah Banda watches as Leslie Torres, Josue Herrera and Elijah Mack throw a ball to select the answer to a math problem during a Lü Interactive Playground session at South Belt Elementary School.

Photo: Kirk Sides / Staff Photographer

Video game approach in PE has South Belt Elementary kids hopping

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Nine-year-old Kinora Ploucha likes to play with puzzles.

“It’s like a mystery as to what the picture is going to be,” she said.

However, when the fourth-grade student at South Belt Elementary School plays with puzzles, it might not be what you’d expect. Thanks to interactive technology used during her physical education class, Kinora can work her puzzles while running, jumping, throwing, aiming and working up a healthy sweat.

She uses an interactive, movement- and learning-based video game-like system in which images are projected onto the gymnasium wall. The system was developed by French Canadian company Lü. Jason Watson, a PE teacher at South Belt, lobbied for the tech after seeing something similar at a birthday party.

Realizing the system might better ignite his students’ interest in moving and participating while learning fundamentals central to Pasadena ISD’s physical education program, Watson pushed to purchase the approximately $20,000 Interactive Playground system. With charitable donations from the community, Pasadena ISD’s education foundation and the Albermarle Foundation, the project came together and was installed last year at the school, 1801 Riverstone Ranch.

Watson said it’s been a hit.

“The kids love it,” he said.

Since the system’s installation, children’s participation in PE has improved, their willingness to work harder and move faster has increased and there are fewer complaints, Watson said.

Lights, music ended excuses

Once accustomed to hearing excuses during the warm up jog, Watson said all he has to do now is turn on the system’s disco feature, which blasts fun lights and upbeat music throughout the gym, and the kids enthusiastically round the gym in preparation for the class.

“There aren’t any complaints when the music is on,” he said. “Not one.”

The Lü system at South Belt is equipped with about 20 types of games accessed via downloadable computer applications. They stress learning through movement, requiring kids to lob balls at the gym wall while interacting with the video game that’s being projected. Traditional physical skills like throwing, kicking, jumping, passing and aiming are reinforced by requiring kids to hit moving bull’s-eye targets, kick balls at the correct answer on a displayed math problem or hurl balls to identify shapes and colors. Reading skills are integrated, as well. During use, the children are often grouped into teams, allowing them to become excited about a little good-natured competition.

“They get crazy, screaming and cheering,” Watson said. “It’s great because pretty much anything we teach in PE, there’s an app we can tie it to.”

Daniel Frazier,another South Belt PE instructor, said because of the system’s large application offerings, he and Watson are able to make use of the tool every day.

“Anything they can teach in a classroom, we can make it interactive in here,” he said. “The games help build team-building skills, social skills, muscular endurance, cognitive skills, accuracy with throwing and kicking. It helps with spatial awareness.”

Boosting kids’ confidence

Both teachers said the tech has enhanced instruction in unexpected ways, as well. For children nervous about playing sports or experiencing a hard time mastering required elements of the PE curriculum, having them practice in a video game-like setting as part of a team boost their comfort level and give them a way to practice without the embarrassment of being the focus of attention from peers.

“For those kids, it really takes the focus off of them while they’re learning fundamentals,” Watson said.

Performing the skills while using the Lü is a way for shyer kids to build confidence while relying on the support of their classmates, Frazier added.

“It’s a step,” he said. “For someone who might not be physically active regularly, they have their teammates behind them on this. It makes them more receptive when we do actually go outside and throw the ball.”

Fourth-grader Aly Garza, 9, called the system “pretty cool” and said the technology is a favorite part of her PE classes.

“We all really like it, so when they tell us that we’re going to use it, we get really excited,” she said.

Along with games to get kids excited about sweating it out in PE, the system also is equipped with a Yoga app the teachers use to settle and refocus students at the end of the class.

“It calms them down, helps them breathe and then everybody’s ready to start learning,” Frazier said.

Moving forward, as more apps are developed and the Lü system offers more game options, Watson and Frazier will be able to start customizing the content to better match what other teachers at South Belt are emphasizing in classrooms.

“Soon we’ll be able to put in our own content so whatever lessons they’re doing in the classroom we can implement in here,” Watson said.